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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28934142">The Wager of Verona</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_Zira/pseuds/C_Zira'>C_Zira</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Elisabeth - Levay/Kunze, Romeo et Juliette - Presgurvic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canonical Character Death, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mostly Pre-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 14:20:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>878</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28934142</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_Zira/pseuds/C_Zira</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A former Todesengel settles in Verona and claims the city as hers. When Death notices, he proposes a challenge.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Der Tod | Death (Elisabeth) &amp; La Mort | Death (Romeo et Juliette)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Wager of Verona</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sometimes, when on the outskirts of her city, she saw them. Angels, people called them, these dark beings as kind as they were terrifying. But they never ventured too close to her territory, and when they saw her, they averted their gazes.</p><p> Once, she was like them, humble and dutiful as she did the Other's bidding.</p><p>But it was not enough.</p><p>So she shed her dark wings and black robes, wearing white to differentiate herself from them. She settled in Verona, the city of hate, of strife and of love. And here she claimed the souls of the people for herself, and grew stronger with each one. In return, she built those souls a paradise. They were no fools, and it did not take long to realise that this was not where they ought to have been. Some wanted to leave. She let them go with a smile, leaving the way open, knowing they would return soon. The Underworld would be too dreary a place for her vibrant people.</p><p>Of course, it did not take long for the Other to notice. He came to Verona by night, more impressed than angered, but nevertheless he demanded she return the city to him. She refused. Still, she knew it was futile. He was far more powerful, it should be simple for him to cast her out, strip her of her stolen power. She knew she should apologise and return to his side, but she did not. Nor did the Other do as expected. He was intrigued, so he gave her a chance. And she vowed to seize it.</p><p>Now, in Verona there lived a young nobleman, the Lord Montague. Wealthy, influential and well protected, he came from a long line of noblemen who had lived in Verona for as long as anyone could remember. And so the Other proposed a challenge. If she could bring the Lord Montague to him of the man's own free will, the city would be hers.</p><p>And so she set to work. There was already a feud in the city, and she escalated it, a stolen object here, a misheard message there, strife that spread to the Montague household, that came between the Lord and his wife. And again and again, she approached him, and offered her solution.</p><p>But he refused.</p><p>And then, he fell ill.</p><p>It was not her doing. Nor was it the Other's, who shrugged and told her those things happened. Still, she thought he must have known. He had insight into the ways of fate that she did not, the skill and patience to pull the strings and move the world the way he wanted it to go. She barred the Lord Montague from his fate for as long as she could, and visited him more frequently, promising first an end to his suffering, then anything he wanted that was within her power, if only he agreed to choose her.</p><p>But he refused.</p><p>The man did not trust her and insisted that his family needed him, that he had too much to do, that his illness would pass, after all, if it would not, then why else would she be there? Frustrated, she threatened first his wife, then his new-born son, but she did not yet have the power to act directly on her threats, nor the time to engineer them.</p><p>And he refused.</p><p>And then he died, and she had lost. The Other came to Verona once again, and he told her the wager was over.</p><p>But she refused.</p><p>The Lord Montague had a son, still vibrant and healthy, too young to understand why his mother grieved. When he turned those oh-so-expressive eyes on her they held no fear, but were full of wonder and curiosity. It would be a long time before he would have his late father's title as the laws of Verona decreed, but as far as she was concerned, it was already his by right.</p><p>The Other said he was too young, that a child cannot make such a choice. The Other said she must wait until the boy had grown, and that she was not interfere in his childhood. What the Other did not say was that the boy was not the new Lord Montague in all but name. For in their eyes, he was. And so the wager was not over, not yet.</p><p>So she waited. She kept her distance as the Other had decreed, and watched the young Montague live, and play, and learn, and grow. She watched, and something in the long-buried vestiges of her humanity grew fond. He was hers, after all, even if he did not know it yet. And she would not lose again. So, when he was sixteen, she turned to the Other, and gained his permission to begin the wager anew.</p><p>...</p><p>Romeo Montague was sixteen years old when he first saw her. He knew, somehow, who she was, and what she wanted.</p><p>And he refused.</p><p>...</p><p>It did not matter. She had a lifetime to change his mind.</p><p>As it turned out, she did not need it.</p><p>As the sun rose over her Verona on the day the feud ended, she basked in her greatest victory. And the Other inclined his head in acknowledgment, and left Verona behind.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My headcanon is that the Todesengel are former humans.</p><p>As this is my first fanfiction, constructive criticism is welcome.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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